The Three Sided Story
by HiddenInTheTardis
Summary: The TARDIS lands on a beautiful beach. A bit of R&R is just what Rose and the Doctor need. But all is not as it seems, and they soon find themselves wrapped up in an ancient, unsolved mystery, one they cannot escape from. Ten/Rose.
1. Unexpected

The Three Sided Story

Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who. But to hell with reality...

_A/N: Hi! Here's my latest story, of course it's a will they/won't they Ten/Rose fic!_

_Special thanks to AzureFalls, who kindly agreed to beta this story for me (I sometimes get lost when I write complicated plots, lol)_

_Set straight after The Satan Pit._

Chapter 1: Unexpected

Rose clung onto the metal railing for dear life, her teeth rattling in her jaw, her hair falling in a mess over her face.

"Doctor, what's wrong with the TARDIS?"

The Doctor was clutching to the console, trying to steady his beloved ship, who was groaning and sighing and basically refusing to cooperate.

"I dunno, I think she just needs a little..." he disappeared behind the controls, and reappeared with shockingly messy hair. He held up his trusty mallet triumphantly, and bashed it down on the console several times. The TARDIS creaked one more time, before settling down into a somewhat presentable landing.

"...Persuasion," the Doctor finished, returning his mallet to it's place and looking up at the time rotor with concern.

Rose stood up, tried to make the best of her messy hair, and smoothed down her top. "She doesn't seem very happy."

"Hmm," the Doctor agreed, absent-mindedly smoothing his hand over the cool metal. "Well, we nearly lost her in the heart of the planet, I suppose we can't blame her for being a bit... clingy."

The TARDIS hummed in response, and the Doctor pulled the monitor round to him and peered closely at it. He frowned.

"What's wrong?" Rose inquired, stepping over to him, and looking at the screen over his shoulder.

It was blank.

The Doctor tapped the side of the monitor several times, but nothing happened. He fished his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and tried that, but it still refused to work.

"That's very odd."

Rose looked up at his genuinely confused expression. He caught her eye, and his demeanour suddenly changed, resorting to his usual exuberance and energy.

"No matter. We'll sort that out later. I'm guessing we've got to be..."

He ran over to the door and pulled it open, being immediately greeted by brilliant sunshine and salty air. He took a deep breath, and stepped out onto a white, sandy beach, his face beaming as bright as the sunshine.

"Ah! Look, Rose, I got our heading right! Have a guess where we are!"

Rose stepped out of the TARDIS, her legs still a little shaky from their abrupt landing. She couldn't help but smile as the warm sunshine hit her face. After being stuck in the dreary darkness and artificial light of the station on Krop Tor, she was glad to finally feel sunlight on her skin. She glanced at the Doctor, who was looking at her expectantly, his expression as eager as a little boy. She fought the urge to blush. She loved it when he looked at her like that.

"Go on, then, where do you think we are?" he insisted, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet.

Rose took a good look at her surroundings and breathed in deeply. Salty air. Soft sand. The ocean crashed against the beach to their left. She looked back at the Doctor, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand.

"A beach?"

The Doctor's shoulders sagged a little, and he squinted his eyes against the light.

"Well, yeah... but _where_?"

"How am I supposed to know? Earth?"

The Time Lord nodded encouragingly.

Rose held out her arms against the sun. "It's warm. Really warm, so I'm guessing not the UK?"

"Have you ever seen a beach in the UK with this sand?" he asked patronisingly, bending down to pick up a handful of the white powder sand to emphasise his point.

Rose watched the sand trickle from his hand back to the ground. "Spain?"

"Nope."

"Tell meeee," Rose whined, growing impatient.

The Doctor grinned. "Caribbean."

Rose blinked. "Seriously?"

"Yeah! Thought we deserved a break. I was aiming for St. Lucia, but with the TARDIS messing around, I think we're a bit off. Not too far, though."

Rose beamed. "I don't care, it's the _Caribbean_, I've always wanted to come here!" She skipped over the sand to him and threw her arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a huge hug. He chuckled into her shoulder.

Rose abruptly let go and dashed back to the TARDIS, disappearing inside.

"Rose?" The Doctor stared after her, his arms hanging at his sides, feeling strangely empty at the sudden loss of the embrace.

"I'm getting changed!" came the muffled response.

The Doctor just stood there silently for a moment. He looked up at the sun, and realised that his coat _did_ feel a little warm. He followed her, stopping at the doorway to pat the wood of the TARDIS.

"Hope you're okay, girl," he murmured in an undertone, before disappearing inside the ship.

Rose flew to her room, and began hunting through her chest of drawers. She was so excited. The Doctor had been promising her a holiday for some time now, and she guessed that the events on Krop Tor had really shaken him. He had seemed in a real hurry to get away from there.

She eventually found what she had been looking for: a red bikini. She took it from the mess of clothes and wondered for a moment if she dare actually wear it in front of the Doctor. She had bought it specifically for that purpose a little while ago, but now that the opportunity had presented itself she felt a little nervous. She threw the bikini on her bed, and continued rifling through her clothes until she found a sort of sundress she'd bought at a futuristic fashion show. It was white and very thin, but it would make her feel a little more confident on the beach. She fished around her dressing table for her sunglasses and some sunblock. She giggled excitedly to herself. It had been so long since she'd been to a beach...

She emerged a few minutes later wearing the sundress over her bikini, her sunglasses in her hair and a beach bag filled with beach necessities: flip flops, a towel, Heat magazine's 2000 anniversary edition and the like. She stepped out into the sunshine and relished the feel of it on her skin. She looked up over the beach to see the Doctor, not far away, wearing a very loud Hawaiian shirt and knee-length shorts, doing his best to put up two deckchairs facing the ocean. She couldn't help laughing as he fell back on the sand to avoid getting trapped as one of the chairs snapped back to its folded position. He scrambled round on his knees, trying to work it out, promising himself that he didn't need the sonic screwdriver for this. He heard the sand crunching, and Rose's perfectly pedicured feet came into view. He looked up higher to see Rose wearing a beautiful sundress, the bright sun shining behind her flowing golden hair, giving her a kind of angelic glow. He gulped, and scrambled to stand up.

"That's... new," he managed, indicating the dress.

Rose glanced down at her attire and nodded. "Yeah, d'you like it?"

"Um... yeah." His answer was vague but his eyes gave him away. She giggled at his slightly dazed expression.

"Do you want some help with the chairs?" Rose asked, and the Doctor tore his gaze from her dress to the problem at hand. "No, no, I can do it."

Rose dumped her bag in the sand, left him mumbling to himself and headed for the water. She was about to lift the dress over her head when a thought struck her, and she stared at the water as if it could bite her.

She called back over her shoulder. "Is it safe to go in the water?"

"Yes, perfectly safe," he replied, sounding distracted.

Rose turned to look at him, and he was still fighting with the chairs.

"Now is this one of the times when you say 'it's perfectly safe,' when you mean, 'it might be safe but it's more fun just to give it a go'?"

"No, honestly, it's fine."

Satisfied with the answer, Rose pulled off her sundress, and rushed into the delightfully blue water in her bikini. The sun had made the water deliciously warm, and Rose ducked down so the water covered her to her shoulders.

The Doctor finally mastered the mystery of the deckchairs and stood back to admire his work. He turned to the water to call Rose to come and look at his masterpiece, but was suddenly distracted by the bikini-clad blonde, who was doing her best to float on top of the water without choking on the lapping waves.

_Never seen that before_, he thought, his eyes lingering on her bikini. He grinned to himself, pulled off his shirt and dived into the water after her.

----

The sun was setting over the ocean, turning the water a tropical orange, almost lighting it on fire. Rose watched sleepily from her deckchair. She yawned, and turned to the the Doctor, who was seated on the seat next to her, busily fiddling with the tuning dial of a radio he'd found in the TARDIS loft. She was getting fed up of the high-pitched static noise emanating from the bright red box.

"Doctor, I really don't think you're going to get a signal for that out here," she said drowzily.

The Doctor was agitated. "Yeah, I guess, but there's something else... something in the signal that's not quite..." he hit the radio a few times with his palm and lifted it to his ear.

He heard Rose yawn this time, and turned to look at her. She could barely keep her eyes open. He smiled affectionately, and stood up. He took her hand and dragged her to her feet.

"Come on then, lets get all this stuff back into the TARDIS."

He leaned down to pick up their towels and amalgamation of other beach necessities and headed off to the blue box. Rose raised an eyebrow at him.  
"Want me to sort out the chairs this time?"

"Um... yeah, give it a go if you like," he said, trying to sound nonchalant about the subject.

Rose grinned, and quickly folded the chairs.

The Doctor dumped the beach bag in the corner of the control room and bounded over to the console. He patted the time rotor with a smile.

"Feeling better, ol' girl?"

The only response was a subdued hum, which made the Doctor frown. He pulled a few levers and pressed some buttons, not once taking his eyes off the time rotor. Rose joined him from the beach, her sundress catching slightly on the folded deckchairs under her arm. She left them against the wall and joined the Doctor at the controls.

"Something wrong?"

The Doctor just beamed at her. "Nope. Let's go!"

He pulled down one final lever with an air of showmanship. And everything went black.

----

"Rose?"

"I'm here."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine... what the hell happened?"

"Not sure, I'll just..."

A dull glow surrounded them, emanating from a few scattered lights under the metal floor. The Doctor looked around the room, his eyes wide and wild.

"Power failure. Engines just... died. Had to switch to emergency supplies."

He tried a few switches, but the TARDIS only responded with a miserable little hum.

"I don't understand. The power's just... gone."

Rose inched closer, disturbed by the eerie light. "What does that mean?"

He turned to face her, looking her straight in the eye. "Looks like we're stuck here."

----

_A/N: Hope you enjoyed, trust me, it gets a lot more interesting!_

_Please take a moment to leave a review xx_


	2. Unexplained

_A/N: Thank you everyone who has reviewed so far, love you all!_

_Big thanks once again to AzureFalls, my beta xx_

Chapter 2: Unexplained

Rose shuffled on top of her bed sheets. It was warm. Far too warm. She exhaled, puffing out her cheeks and blowing her hair from her face. How was she supposed to sleep when they were stuck on an island with no power? She smiled to herself. She thought about all those interviews she'd seen on TV when celebrities were asked which two luxury items they would take with them if they were stranded on a desert island. She now knew _exactly_ what she would choose: the TARDIS and the Doctor.

Of course, one broken TARDIS on an empty beach and one Time Lord with no concept of a concentration span meant that her 'peaceful' night's sleep was continually interrupted by clanking metal and alien curses. The temperature had changed several times in the last few hours as the Doctor tried to figure out what was wrong with his ship. As another loud thud echoed through the TARDIS, Rose groaned and sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed to rest her feet against the cool metal floor. She closed her eyes for a moment, and rubbed her hand over her face. She knew she had to go and stop him destroying the TARDIS completely.

She dragged herself to her feet, smoothing down her flimsy nightdress. She crept to the door, opened it, cringing at the creaking hinges, and padded down the corridor towards the control room. It was eerie in the dark. A few emergency lights shone up from the skirting, the only illumination. Rose shuddered despite the heat, and quickened her pace. She didn't like it. Something was wrong, but she couldn't pinpoint it. Something about being stuck on this beach made her uneasy.

She reached the control room and pushed open the door. She ventured inside and found the Doctor under the flooring, working tirelessly, still wearing his shorts and Hawaiian shirt. She heard the sonic screwdriver whir, and saw a spark. The Doctor cursed again, in a language unfathomable to her human brain. She knelt down on the flooring next to him, and poked him on the shoulder.

"Found anything?" she asked vaguely.

The Doctor looked up at her briefly, and ran a hand through his hair. He sighed. Rose frowned. He looked tired. He was never tired.

"Nope, nothing. I've had to lock down the power, because every time I access it, it just drains out. I think I managed to save about fifteen percent. But, like I said, I've locked down the power so I've only got emergency supplies to work with here. It just doesn't make sense."

He sounded genuinely troubled, and Rose felt guilty, knowing there was probably nothing she could do to help. She decided to ask anyway.

"Is there anything I can do?"

The Doctor shook his head wearily.

Rose racked her brain for any ideas. "You managed to get her working when we were stuck in the parallel world. Can you do... whatever you did then?"

Again, the Doctor shook his head, and pulled himself up to sit on the floor opposite her, his legs dangling into the chasm in the floor.

"Until I figure out what's wrong, whatever energy I put _in_ will just get drained _out_."

Rose looked at the Doctor's troubled frown. Sure, they were stuck at the moment, but they were on a beautiful beach. Surely it couldn't be all that bad...

She offered him a comforting smile. "I'm sure you'll figure it out. You always do."

The Doctor looked her straight in the eye. When he spoke, his voice was wavering.

"You don't understand, Rose. I can't access _anything_. The screen won't work, which means there's no navigation, which means I can't tell where we are. The life support's on minimum; it's a good job we've landed somewhere with an oxygen atmosphere. The heating system's broken; that's why its so hot in here, it's just seeping in from outside. There's no working plumbing, so we've got no water. With no electricity the food storage will be broken, too."

Rose's eyes boggled at the information. It was so much to take in. She shivered despite the heat.

"So..." she took a shaky breath, "What are the options?"

The Doctor sighed, and rubbed at his eyes. "At the moment, there's nothing we can do. Absolutely nothing. It's got to be something on the island that's draining the power, but we won't be able to find anything in the dark. We'll have to wait 'till the morning, then we can reassess our situation."

Rose's insides quaked at the Doctor's tone. He sounded so tired and... lost. She took a deep breath, and stood up, smoothing down her nightdress.

"Right. Are you sure we've got no water?"

The Doctor nodded feebly. "I've not checked personally, but it'll be affected by the power lock down."

"Okay, well then, clean water, that's our first priority. Dunno 'bout you, but this heat's making me thirsty." She headed off to the kitchen to test his theory about the plumbing.

The Doctor watched her leave, then jumped back down into the hatch to continue his work.

Rose made her way to the kitchen, trying to ignore the lack of hums from the TARDIS. She tried the taps, but it turned out the Doctor was right: there was no water. Rose rummaged in the cupboards until she found a large metal bowl with a handle, almost like a cauldron. She wondered what possible use he would have for this. She smiled despite their situation, and quickly slipped back to her bedroom to change. She found some denim shorts and a vest top in her chest of drawers, pulled on her trainers, and grabbed a torch from her bedside table. She headed back to the control room, where she found the Doctor balancing precariously on the ledge that ran around the walls, about ten feet up. He was trying to reach a small panel in the wall, and Rose cringed as he almost tumbled. He clung to the wall and turned to face her.

"I'm gonna get some water."

The Doctor frowned. "Drinking water?"

"No, water to wash the pots. What d'you think? Yes, drinking water!" She couldn't help but laugh.

The Doctor cringed. "You're not getting... seawater, are you?"

Rose planted her hands on her hips and stared at him, an amused smile on her lips. "How daft d'you think I am?"

The Doctor's gaze lowered to take in her outfit before trying to respond. "I, um..."

"No, there's got to be freshwater here somewhere. What d'you reckon?"

He nodded. "Yeah, if we head inland."

"'We'? No, you stay here, work on the TARDIS. I'll be fine. I got this." She held up her torch triumphantly.

A thought passed through the Doctor's mind. "Is it working?"

Rose switched it on and off briefly to demonstrate. "Yeah, why?"

"'S just funny that... the torch is working, the sonic's working, 's just the TARDIS that's been affected."

Rose nodded in agreement, and headed towards the door. She peered out into the night, suddenly unnerved.

"Are you sure it's uninhabited?"

The Doctor nodded. "I was aiming for the 21st century when we landed; if there was life there'd be something to tell us, a radio tower, or something. There's nothing, it'll be fine."

"No... dangerous animals?"

"Shouldn't have thought so, not on a little island like this."

Rose wasn't at all comforted by his vague answer. The Doctor noticed her worried expression and smiled.

"Rose, you've had a face-off with a werewolf. I think you can handle a couple of spiders."

Rose's breath hitched in her throat. "S-spiders?"

"You'll be fine. I promise."

Rose took a deep breath to steady herself, switched on her torch, and headed out into the night. The Doctor stared at the door for a few moments, before turning back to the hatch in the wall.

Rose headed away from the soothing crash of the ocean, into the shrubbery that lead into the middle of the island. It soon thickened with trees and branches and vines, brushing against Rose's bare arms and legs. Barely visible through the foliage, the moon watched over her, casting thin beams of light onto her path to keep her from stumbling. She tried to keep all irrational thoughts about bugs and insects from haunting her mind, but all she could think of was her favourite children's film:

"_Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!"_

She turned suddenly as her mind started to play tricks on her. It was only a bird. She sighed in relief, clutching the bowl and the torch harder, and peered through the plants ahead of her. She could make out a sort of clearing not too far away. She quickened her pace, and smiled to herself as she found the clearing was actually a pool of water, deep and clear, trailing off through the forest towards the sea in a small tributary. A thin waterfall trickled slowly down a ragged hill at the other side of the clearing, giving the illusion of calm and serenity in the moonlight. Rose almost giggled to herself. It looked like the set of one of those fruity shampoo adverts.

She carefully made her way down to the water's edge, and filled the bowl. She stood up with all the elegance of a wobbly flamingo, and happened to glance across the water. She froze. Someone was watching her.

_A/N: Hope you like, please review xx_


	3. Unfathomable

_A/N: Here we are, chapter three. Sorry it's taking longer to update lately, but I've got a lot going on and hardly any free time now. Nevertheless, hope you enjoy xx_

Chapter 3: Unfathomable

Rose raced back to the TARDIS, trying not to spill the water, pushed the door open and ran inside. She slammed the door shut and leaned back against it, closing her eyes and trying to catch her breath. She put down the bowl and opened her eyes. The Doctor was watching her from the console with a look of intrigue, still wearing his shorts and Hawaiian shirt.

"You okay?" he asked.

Rose regained control of her breathing, and shook her head.

"Something... some_one_... was watching me."

The Doctor stared at her. "You what?"

"I found a pool, freshwater, in the forest. They were watching me. From the trees."

"What did they look like?"

"I dunno."

"What?"

"I... didn't actually... see them..." Rose confessed.

The Doctor couldn't help a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. "Then... how do you know you were being watched?"

Rose glared at him, noting the patronising tone in his voice. "Because I _know_, okay? I'm not stupid, and I know when I'm being watched."

The Doctor tried to swallow down the numerous witty remarks that sprang to his mind. "Um... okay..." he couldn't resist teasing her a little. "Are you sure it wasn't a monkey?"

Rose's eyes narrowed, and she picked up the bowl of water, swinging it slightly by the handle. The Doctor eyed it nervously, and decided to pick his words carefully.

"Okay, you were being watched. There's nothing we can do right now; whatever, or _who_ever, it was, will be long gone by now. Best wait 'til morning." He pulled down a lever on the console, and sighed. "Nothing I can do here, either." He rubbed his eyes, and Rose felt sorry for him. He really did seem tired.

"Maybe you should get some sleep."

The Doctor grimaced at the thought. He really hated it when he had to admit to being tired. He yawned, and turned back to the console. "I just wanna try one last thing..."  
"Doctor, you said there's nothing you can do here. You might be able to work it out when you've had some sleep."

He groaned. He hated admitting he was tired. But when he stifled a yawn that would have made a lion jealous, he had to admit defeat.

"But I don't _like_ sleeping," he grumbled.

"I know, but it's for the best." She pushed him gently away from the console and towards the inner doors.

"Can't I just have coffee?" he asked.

Rose just shook her head, hiding a smile. "Right, you go off to bed, I'm gonna go put this water in the kitchen."

The Doctor headed off down a corridor to the right, mumbling under his breath about his superior Time Lord biology not needing to rest. Rose set off down the corridor to the left, and headed to the kitchen.

But the kitchen wasn't there. She found the door and opened it, but to her surprise found herself in the airing cupboard. She frowned, closed the door, and tried again. She knew that the TARDIS sometimes switched the rooms around, and maybe she was just messing around. But no matter how hard she tried, Rose couldn't find the kitchen. She found herself wandering in circles, getting annoyed. She eventually admitted defeat, and put down the bowl of water. She leaned back against the wall and let out a loud groan. It was still incredibly hot, and technically she should have been sound asleep. She couldn't cope with this.

The Doctor appeared in the corridor a moment later, a questioning frown plastered across his face. Rose noticed the open door several meters away, and sighed. He'd gone to the library.

"I told you to go to bed."

The Time Lord shook his head vigorously. "Nope, far too hot in here to sleep." He tugged at the collar of his Hawaiian shirt to demonstrate. His hair was an unrecognisable mess and he had shadows under his eyes. Rose felt sorry for him: she knew his normal body temperature was significantly lower than hers, so this heat must be unbearable for him. The Doctor noticed the bowl of water beside her.

"Thought you were putting that in the kitchen?"

"Well I _was_, but I can't seem to _find_ the kitchen."

"What?"

"It's not there."

The Doctor blinked. Or at least, that's what it looked like through the dim glow of the emergency lights. "What do you mean, 'It's not there'?"

Rose shifted uncomfortably, and wiped her hair from her damp neck. "I mean 'It's not there'. I can't find it, I've been walking in circles and it's just... vanished."

"Rooms don't just vanish, Rose," he answered patronisingly.

"The kitchen has, Doctor," she replied in a similar tone.

He sighed, and stood up straight, with his 'let's save the world' look on his face. He stomped determinedly down the corridor. Rose just watched him go, not moving from her spot against the wall. She folded her arms and waited.

Twenty minutes later, he returned, looking mildly humbled. "Um..." he cleared his throat. "Yep, it's gone."

Rose couldn't help but smile, and the Doctor couldn't help but notice that cheeky little tongue of hers poking out between her teeth.

Rose picked up the bucket, and waved it pointedly in his face. "So what shall I do with this?"

The Doctor thought for half a second, snapped his fingers, and headed back to the library. Rose followed him this time, and found the dark room slightly cooler than the corridor. She breathed a small sigh of relief and set down the bowl. The Doctor stalked over to a cabinet, and produced two china mugs with a flourish. He set them down on the coffee table, took the bowl from Rose and poured out two drinks. Rose sat on the floor next to the squashy green couch, as she guessed it would be cooler. The Doctor sat opposite her at the other side of the table, leaning on the cold wood. He tasted his drink.

"Water seems clean enough, anyway," he remarked.

Rose raised an eyebrow at him. "You're welcome."

The Doctor just grinned sleepily. He rubbed his hands over his face, and undid a few more of the buttons on the front of his shirt.

"'S far too hot," he groaned.

Rose bit down on her lip, trying to keep her eyes from his chest. "Yep," she agreed.

The Doctor noticed her strange expression, and frowned. "What?"

"Nothing, Doctor. Nothing."

He sighed, fished his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and flicked the switch a few times.

"Well, the sonic seems to be working. So why isn't the TARDIS?"

Rose shrugged, her mind tired of whirring through the possibilities. The Doctor noticed her vague expression and nodded in undecided agreement.

"If I'm being honest, Rose, I have absolutely no idea how this could have happened. No idea what's going on. No plan."

Rose stared at him, and blinked once. "What, again?"

He nodded.

"So we're stuck _again_?"

The Time Lord struggled for an answer, and settled with, "Well, white sandy beach: it's a bit better than an impossible rock orbiting a black hole."

They went quiet in momentary reminiscence. Eventually the Doctor stood up, stretching his limbs, and dragged Rose to her feet.

"Come on, can't sit down there all night."

"So are you going to get some sleep?" Rose questioned.

He groaned. "If I have to..."

----

Dawn. The sun rose up from it's watery bed and spread it's light across the island. A tall man in a brown suit and a pink and yellow girl emerged from a blue box on the beach.

"Morning," Rose yawned, looking slightly more crumpled than usual.

The Doctor nodded. "We sort this out _today_. We work out who or what is keeping us here, and we fix it today," he announced in a determined tone.

Rose mirrored his nod, trying to look as eager as he did. Truth be told, ever since she found out they were stuck, she'd found this place creepy and almost claustrophobic.

The Doctor set off along the beach, unconsciously reaching out for Rose's hand and clutching it firmly. Rose smiled at the contact; such a simple gesture, but it made her feel so much better to know that he was there with her. She sighed, her countenance lifting a little. After all, it was only an island; if worst came to worst they'd make it off the island somehow and get to the nearest mainland. She skipped to get in step with him.

"So, what exactly do we know up to now?"

The Doctor looked at her with intrigue. "Nothing new."

She pouted, slightly put out. "Yeah, but... doesn't it help to go over the evidence, or something?"

A smile twitched on the Doctor's mouth. "'Evidence'?"

"Yeah, like in all those mystery dramas on ITV. The sleuth goes over the evidence one last time and something clicks into place."

The Doctor chuckled. "Who are we then, Poirot and Miss Marple?"

Rose grinned. "Good old Agatha Christie."

"Yeah... I bet she'd be brilliant. We'll have to go and see her at some point."

Rose nodded into agreement, and tugged lightly on his sleeve. "Come on then, what have we got so far?"

The Doctor cleared his throat. "Well, we arrived here, and the TARDIS seemed a bit peaky. Good day on the beach. Tried to leave, couldn't."

"And you said all the energy is being drained somehow. So whatever energy you put in is just going to drain out again."

"Ye_p_, that's why we have to find the source. And when we find the source, we can... what the...?"

Neither had been paying particular attention to their journey, but they had been walking along the beach in a straight line for nearly twenty minutes, and were suddenly faced with the last thing they'd expected to see. Rose looked back over her shoulder.

"But that's impossible."

"Yep," the Doctor agreed. "Much more than unlikely. Definitely _impossible_!"

They had come face to face with the back of the TARDIS. The Doctor walked around the familiar blue box in wonder, trailing a hand across the wood. Rose peered further up the beach, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand.

"... completely impossible, because we just left her about twenty minutes ago. There's no way we could have walked round the whole island in twenty -"

"- Doctor."

The Doctor came to a stop next to Rose, and followed her gaze, squinting against the sun.

"Now, that wasn't there before."

It was hard to tell through the sunshine, but it looked like a funny statue of some sort, quite a way up the beach, with people next to it.

"I'm putting an end to this now," the Doctor said, and set off towards them. "Rose, stay here."

"Be careful," Rose called.

As the Doctor set off towards the people, one of them started off away from him, further down the beach. The Doctor broke into a run, and the mystery stranger sped up his escape. Soon the stranger was out of sight, and the Doctor reached the others. Rose never once took her eyes off the Doctor.

"What?!"

Rose jumped at the voice behind her, and spun round.

"Doctor?! But you just... I mean you were..."

She turned back to look at the figures. Two of them, next to something large and solid. The Doctor was just as puzzled as she was. The last thing he'd expected to find was Rose, or the TARDIS.

"What is going on here?" he muttered under his breath, fishing in his jacket pocket. He found a pair of modified opera binoculars, and held them up to his eyes. He focused on the figures further up the beach. The TARDIS, Rose and himself, facing away from them. He could plainly see the back of their heads and his jacket tails blowing in the warm breeze.

"Impossible."

He returned the binoculars to his pocket, and without a word of explanation, rushed into the TARDIS. Rose followed him.

"What is it, Doctor? Who are they?"

He rushed over to the console, sonic screwdriver in hand and desperately tried to get the monitor to work. It didn't. He looked back at Rose.

"Us. They're us. That's how I ended up back with you after I left."

He gave up on the monitor, and rushed back outside. To his surprise, the other figures and the other TARDIS were no longer there. Rose saw this from the doorway, and shuddered. The Doctor ran a few feet forward, before stopping and spinning around on the spot.

"This is... unfathomable. What the hell is going on here?"

----

_A/N: Let me know what you think. Anybody figure it out? xx_


	4. Unlikely

_A/N: Hello again! Sorry about the delay in the update, busy busy busy..._

_Thanks again for the lovely reviews. I'm so glad everyone's been thinking up ideas about what could be happening. _

_My thanks again to AzureFalls._

Chapter 4: Unlikely

The forest was dense and dark. The bright, blazing sun could barely pierce the foliage, and it made it hard to see anything. The Doctor stormed ahead, his eyes everywhere, searching for anything that could give him a clue to unravelling this mystery. Rose stumbled behind him, grabbing the back of his jacket to stop her fall.

The Doctor looked back at her, and grabbed her hand. He stared at her with that fierce protective expression that always made her shudder.

"Whatever you do, _don't _wander off in here."

Rose pouted. "I _never _wander off!"

He raised an eyebrow, his face never wavering. "I mean it this time, Rose."

Something in his voice made her nervous. She nodded, and let him grip her hand tight as they continued through the trees.

As the forest grew thicker, the Doctor pulled her even closer, barely inches between them now. She could barely feel her fingers any more, due to his grip. She made an uncomfortable noise.

"You know, Doctor, I never thought I'd say this, but you _can_ let go a bit."

The Doctor didn't turn to look at her. "I'm not gonna lose you. Not again. Not in here."

Rose frowned a little, stumbling on another broken branch. "What? What do you mean 'again'?"

He paused briefly to regard her, staring at her with empty eyes. "I only just got you back," he said quietly. "I thought I'd lost you... on Krop Tor, and I can't do that again, Rose, I just can't."

His openness and honesty surprised him as much as it did her. Rose blinked.

"Well, you're not gonna lose me, Doctor," she confirmed quietly. The two continued through the forest in silence. The Doctor released his grip slightly, and Rose wiggled her fingers to get the circulation going again. She frowned in sudden realisation.

"Hang on, you didn't seem too worried about losing me earlier, when I went out for water!"

The Doctor paused, then shrugged. "Didn't know it was dangerous then, did I?"

Rose shivered at his words. "You think it could be dangerous?"

"Well, think about it. Something has managed to ground the TARDIS here. Not exactly gonna be something from Earth, is it?"

Rose nodded her agreement. She had to admit she had no idea what could be going on.

"So... any ideas yet?"

The Doctor stopped, examining the foliage as it seemed to thin suddenly.

"Well, it's definitely real. When we came back to the TARDIS on the beach and we saw ourselves, I thought we could be in some sort of simulation, you know, and maybe there'd been a glitch. But these trees are all indigenous and too varied and detailed to be a simulation."

Rose just nodded once more.

"So we're left with something that can interfere with space, time and the TARDIS. We know it interferes with time, because we saw ourselves, which, without time-travelling, should be impossible. We know it affects space because we can't actually leave, and we went all round the island in less than half an hour..."

"...And the TARDIS isn't working, so that can't be a good thing either," Rose offered, trying to be lighthearted. It failed. She was worried. Something about this place was just... wrong.

The foliage thinned even more, and they soon found themselves on the beach again. The Doctor stepped out onto the sand, and his face broke out in glee.

"Oh, look, bananas!" He rushed over to the trees, reaching up to grab some, but he pulled his hand back.

"Ah, erm... could be spiders." He took out the sonic screwdriver and pointed it up at the tree.

"Doctor."

"Bananas! I can't believe I was worried about being stuck here!"  
"Doctor."

"... I wonder if I could grow them on the TARDIS; I've been looking for something to put in the third bathroom."

"Doctor!"

He looked up when he heard the tone of Rose's call, and, bananas in hand, joined her at the water's edge.

"But..."

"- That wasn't here before?"

"It wasn't, I _know _it wasn't. I checked. I looked. It's..."

"- Impossible?"

"Well, yeah."

"Well, less impossible now," Rose taunted. "More... unlikely."

The Doctor had to agree. He knew it hadn't been there before. They'd come round this side of the island before, and he _knew_ he hadn't seen it before. But there it was, as clear as day.

Rose couldn't believe it either. "It's..."

"- Another island."

----

Rose lay out on the sand with her eyes closed while the Doctor tried to scan everything on the beach: the rocks, the sand, the shells, the trees, the water. Even the sky. He eventually came to sit down next to Rose.

"Well?" she asked, peering up at him through squinting eyes.

The Doctor took a deep breath, and smoothed some sand from his trousers. "It's definitely a real island. Everything about it screams authenticity. So why is the timeline messed up?"

**Two pairs of eyes watched curiously from between the trees. Whoever these newcomers were, they seemed harmless, and, to be frank, clueless. They must know where they are, mustn't they?**

Rose opened her eyes a few moments later to find the Doctor scribbling on a piece of paper, a bottle on the sand beside him.

She grinned. "Where'd you find that?" she asked, nodding towards the bottle.

The Doctor matched her grin, and patted his jacket pocket proudly. "Bigger on the inside!"

He finished his note, stuffed it in the bottle, and put the cork back in the top. Rose giggled.

"You really are a walking cliché, sometimes, you know that?"

The Time Lord ignored her remark, stepped over to the water's edge, and flung it as far as he could. Rose joined him, and they watched the bottle being carried out to sea, in the direction of the other island.

"What did it say?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Is anyone out there? Help, SOS, that sort of thing."

"Why?"

He shrugged again, and headed back to the forest.

"Come on, I wanna check on the TARDIS. Not good to be out too long in this heat, either."

Rose made her way over a large rock, her eyes glued to it, trying to keep a steady footing. She got to the top and stood up straight in triumph. Then she noticed it. There, in the sand.

"Doctor!"

He came running, and his eyes widened when he saw what she was looking at. He stooped down to examine it.

"Did you do that?"

"No."

He traced a bony finger around the markings in the sand.

"Recognise it?"

Rose frowned in concentration, and pointed to a marking on the left.

"That... sort of jutty-out bit looks familiar. Dunno why..."

The Doctor nodded. "I think it's supposed to be Florida."

Rose took that into consideration, and worked out that it must be a map of the Atlantic Ocean, or at least part of it. She pointed to a three-sided shape in the middle.

"Is that what I think it is?"

The Doctor nodded soberly, and stood up, looking her straight in the eye.

"We're in the Bermuda Triangle. And we're not alone."

----

_A/N: Dum dum dum!!! I like cliffhangers *laughs evilly* Please let me know what you think xx_


	5. Unavoidable

_A/N: Hello everybody!!! Soooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry I've been away forever, been so mega busy and then I got distracted and then there was a fire... long story. Anyway I'm back now, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story. Sorry if I'm a bit rusty, but I am excited to get back to this story. Big love and hugs to everyone who has reviewed so far, thanks for sticking by me!!! Enjoy._

_Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
_

Chapter Five: Unavoidable

The Doctor stood with his heels buried in the sand, staring towards the forest. He scanned the foliage again, and this time frowned at the reading. He looked to the right.

"Come on," he said quietly, and led the way along the sand, never once taking his eyes off the trees.

They walked silently, both lost in their own thoughts. Eventually Rose spoke in a shaky voice.

"But, we can't be. The Bermuda Triangle's just a myth, isn't it?"

The Doctor didn't answer straight away. "Rose, you've been travelling with me for a while now. You've seen a werewolf, homicidal pepperpots and giant green aliens with a gas problem. Is anything really a myth anymore?"

Rose couldn't think of an answer to that, and her lower lip pouted out just a little. If the situation weren't so dire, the Doctor would have laughed. Rose squinted up at the scorching sun, and pulled her jacket from her arms, wrapping it round her waist. The Time Lord frowned at her, and fished in his pockets for a bottle of sunscreen.

"Can never be too careful," he muttered as he tossed her the bottle.

Rose lathered herself in the cold liquid, and was so engrossed in her task that she didn't notice that they had moved inland, hovering the line between the forest and the sand. They rounded a corner, and the Doctor stopped abruptly. In front of them lay a small cove, cut off from the rest of the beach and leading straight into the forest – somehow out of reach of the tide. Rose blinked.

"Don't know why this surprises me," she murmured. The Doctor didn't hear her, he was still staring into the cove. Rose tried to see what he was looking at, but all she could make out were some vague shapes that were most likely rocks and driftwood.

"Look," the Doctor said in a surprised tone. "Civilisation."

He nimbly made his way down the rocks to the powder-like sand of the cove, stopping every now and again to help Rose over the ragged boulders. His eyes were wide like a child at Christmas. The cove was brimming with random bric-a-brack: an ancient globe, bleached by the sun, a potted rubber plant, a box of art supplies, an enormous pile of books, an old music box, a battered telescope. But none of this caught the Doctor's attention. He was immediately drawn to the torn map, spread out on the ground and held down at the corners with small rocks. A rough triangle had been marked out on the map near Florida, stretching out into the ocean. Other small diagrams, doodles and equations were scrawled all over every inch of the map, and the Doctor glanced at these, taking it all in. Flicked through the assortment of books, and found everything from their old friend Charles Dickens, to Edgar Allen Poe and Enid Blyton. She grinned at the disarray, and looked over to where the Doctor was stooped on the floor. But he wasn't looking at the map any longer. She followed his gaze, her heart pounding in her chest.

Two children, no older than eight, stood side by side, watching them silently. A boy and a girl, both with dark hair and sunkissed skin. The Doctor stood up slowly, not wanting to frighten them.

"Hello," he said brightly. "I'm the Doctor, and this is Rose..."

"MAMA!!!" the little boy rushed off into the forest in a flurry, leaving the girl standing alone, staring at the newcomers.

The Doctor ventured a step closer. "What's your name?" he asked in a gentle tone.

"Rebeccah," she said quietly.

"That's a lovely name. Rebeccah, I was wondering if you could tell me-"

He was cut off by the sound of rustling and commotion. A small group of people had gathered in the forest at the edge of the cove, and were watching curiously. The Doctor glanced at Rose before putting on his friendliest smile and stepping over to greet them.

"Hello. I'm the Doctor, this is Rose. We've sort of... crashed... here. Wherever 'here' is."

After a moment of hushed whispers, a tall man stepped forward, wearing the battered remains of what would have once been a nice suit.

"Professor Harling," he introduced himself simply.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow, but held out his hand in way of greeting. Harling shook it hesitantly.

"Nice to meet you, Professor. Maybe you could tell me, because I'm not actually sure... where are we?"

The Professor's face cracked, and his bellowing laugh echoed around the cove.

The Doctor tried to smile, but failed. "Have I said something funny?"

"'Where are we?' How could we _be _anywhere? We are nowhere."

"The Bermuda Triangle?" Rose offered, stepping over to the Doctor.

The professor gave a stiff nod. "That's what they seem to call it." He made his way down from the edge of the forest further into the cluttered cove, and everyone in the huddle behind him seemed to relax, some wandering back into the forest, some following their assumed leader. Harling stood in front of the map, peering down at it, as if it were an unsolved riddle.

"What happened here?" Rose asked, her heart going out to the troubled professor.

He turned to smile at her, and sighed tiredly.

"Our ship sank," he said simply. "We thought we'd hit something at first, but there was nothing in sight. The ship went down far too fast – impossibly fast. And then I found myself here, along with these fine people." He gestured to the small group around them.

"We were headed back home, to England," came a quiet voice from within the group. It belonged to a slight woman in her thirties, her hair pulled back from her face in a messy braid. "Everyone was panicking. The ship was going down, but we hadn't hit anything. And then... we were here. It's all such a blur."

"And then the wreckage started washing ashore," the professor continued. No bodies, mercifully, but all of the things you see here are what we have rescued." He sat down in a rickety wooden chair, and wiped his hand over his brow."

The Doctor was frowning, his mind running a mile a minute. "Professor, how long ago was this?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"It's so hard to tell," he explained. He took out an old pocket watch, and showed it to the Doctor. It wasn't ticking. "There is nothing wrong with it," he explained. "It should work. But nothing works here. We found a radio from the ship," he pointed to an ancient-looking radio in the sand, "but we cannot get it working. By my reckoning, we've been here three months."

Rose eyed the Doctor nervously. She knew that look. He was pondering something, something that would make her whole understanding of the situation shatter into pieces. She braced herself for the revelation.

The Doctor was still turning the watch over and over in his hand. "Professor, what year is it?"

"Such a strange thing to ask."

"Yeah, I'm strange, ask anyone. Well, actually... don't..." He quickly refocused and stared at the baffled professor. "What year is it?"

"1959 of course."

"Of course it is," the Doctor sighed, glancing at Rose.

"Does that surprise you?" Harling asked curiously.

The Doctor shrugged, seeing no point in lying to this man. "It's just that just before we crashed here, it was 2006."

"Impossible!"

"Unavoidably so," the Doctor agreed.

"When did you crash?" the quiet woman whispered to Rose. Rose jumped a little, not realising she had moved so close. The woman smiled apologetically.

"Um... sometime yesterday I think."

"Then yours must be the blue box."

"Yes, that's ours." The Doctor's attention was suddenly focused on this quiet woman. "Why do you ask?"

The woman hesitated.

"That's when it happened. Yesterday. That was when time broke."


	6. Unearthly

A/N:  _Hello. I'm back. My apologies for the ridiculously long absence; if you want to know why I've been away I've written a brief explanation (and another apology) on my profile page. I plan to update and FINISH all my stories listed as ON HIATUS. According to the poll I took, most readers wanted me to finish this story first. So here goes, hope you enjoy._

Disclaimer:  I own nothing.

Chapter Six: Unearthly 

_"When did you crash?" the quiet woman whispered to Rose. Rose jumped a little, not realising she had moved so close. The woman smiled apologetically._

_"Um... sometime yesterday I think."_

_"Then yours must be the blue box."_

_"Yes, that's ours." The Doctor's attention was suddenly focused on this quiet woman. "Why do you ask?"_

_The woman hesitated._

_"That's when it happened. Yesterday. That was when time broke."_

Rose glanced at the Doctor, expecting him to present the woman with an onslaught of questions, but he just stared past her, blankly into space. Rose decided she'd have to ask for him.

"What's your name?" Rose asked the woman, who looked as though she regretted ever speaking.

"Um... Florence."

"Florence, what do you mean, 'time broke'?"

Florence glanced nervously at the Doctor, who was still lost in thought. "Well, that's just what we're calling it." She looked around at the small shipwrecked group as if to include them, though most of them weren't really listening. "It started when Rebeccah and Joseph went into the forest to get some bananas. I know they're only little but they play in there all the time so we thought nothing of it," she tried to explain. "Only a moment later they reappeared, they're arms full of fruit, and a bag overflowing!" She put a hand on Rose's shoulder to steady herself; apparently the very memory of it made her feel faint. "I asked them how they could possibly have gathered all that in such a fleeting moment... but they said they'd been gone all morning. They'd even played hide and seek, and stopped at the lagoon for a swim. Their story must have been true – their hair and clothes were still damp!"

Rose made the trembling woman sit on the sand as she recounted several 'impossible' incidents that had occurred since the previous morning.

The Doctor blinked out of his reverie a little while later. Of course he had been listening to Florence's tale – it sounded in keeping with what he already knew of time on the island – but his mind was sparking and firing new thoughts and ideas faster than fireworks.

He turned back to the Professor, who was making himself some sort of brew with a kettle on a small campfire. Harling poured the brew into two chipped mugs, and offered one to the Doctor.

"Ah, thanks," he accepted gratefully. He took a long swing, burning his mouth but pretending he hadn't.

"Tell me, Professor," he enquired, nonchalantly trying to cool his tongue, "you said 'nothing' works on this island. What did you mean?"

"I mean nothing at all works," the tired man replied simply.

"Like what?"

"I managed to salvage certain components from the engine of the ship," he answered. "Didn't really expect them to function perfectly of course, but after weeks of tinkering... nothing. And I don't mean to say that I am an engineer, but Paul, over there, is quite literally the most capable mechanic I have ever met, and even he was befuddled. He would manage to get things working, then in moments, they would crash and die. The same with the radio, and that had no water damage at all!"

The Doctor nodded absently, kicking at the edge of the fire with his sneaker. Harling watched him.

"The first night, when I tried to make a fire, I thought I was going insane," he admitted. "Swallowed too much seawater or something. I got the fire lit after what must have been an hour, and then..."

"What happened?" the Doctor asked quietly.

"It seemed as though the sky... absorbed it. It flew up into the air away from the wood, and headed over into the forest, out of sight. I can't be sure of exactly what happened, and perhaps I was seeing things, because I tried again and the fire was fine..."

Harling trailed off, looking over the Doctor's shoulder towards the ocean. The Time Lord turned to follow his gaze, and saw a familiar sight, bobbing up and down in the foam.

The bottle he had sent out on the waves, not an hour before.

He rushed over and grabbed it, pulling out the message inside. Sure enough, his handwriting, his words. He stared over the water at the other island on the horizon, his hand shading his eyes from the blaring sun. Harling joined him, and took the bottle from his hand.

"What's this?" he asked, more to himself than the Doctor.

"It's the message I wrote not long ago. I thought maybe someone on the other island would find it. But..." he glanced back at the forest, then looked back out at the other island.

"Harling, has anyone made contact with that other island?"

"No, sadly, we attempted, but our raft wouldn't hold together."

The cogs in the Doctor's head whirred and churned. "There hasn't been enough time for this to get all the way out to the horizon, but then again, the tide hasn't turned yet." He spun to look at the baffled Professor. "I think that _that_ island... is _this_ island."

Meanwhile, Florence had left to go lay down in her make-shift tent, leaving Rose to look around the campsite and smile awkwardly at anyone who happened to make eye contact. Normally she would be the first person to go say hello, after the Doctor, but she was still in shock from finding people on this supposedly deserted island, and she still felt a little freaked by everything that had happened.

She felt a tug on the hem of her shirt, and she saw the little girl from before, looking up at her earnestly.

"Hello," Rose gave her brightest smile and used her softest voice. "You're Rebeccah, right?"

Rebeccah nodded, then beckoned for her to lean down. Rose sat down on the sand next to her. Rebeccah shuffled back a little, then glanced at the edge of the forest. She stood up abruptly.

"Wait here," she whispered.

Rose put her finger on her lips in response to the whisper, and waited as the little girl ran off to the tree line, and returned with the little boy they had seen earlier. Rebeccah pushed him forward towards Rose.

"Go on, ask her, Joseph!"

Joseph backed off, trying to push Rebeccah in front of him. "I'm not going to ask; you ask!"

Rose took her finger from her lips and turned to face them squarely. "Ask me what?"

Joseph glanced at Rebeccah, then turned to Rose. His eyes were startlingly alert.

"Are you here about the Zenith?"

Rose was instantly all ears. "Maybe..." she said carefully. "What can you tell me about it?"

"I don't think she knows," Rebeccah said, almost sadly.

Rose bit her lip. "Maybe you could tell me what you mean. What is the Zenith?"

Joseph stood up. "We could take you."

Rose was just about to answer, when the Doctor called to her. The two children took this chance to scurry away into one of the tents. Rose sighed in frustration, but got up and headed over to the Doctor.

"Let's stay here for a bit," he suggested. "There's no point going back to the TARDIS when nothing's working, and I need to know more about what's been happening before I can start theorising."

"Well, okay, if you want to stay here, but I'm gonna go find them kids again, they were gonna show me something in the forest, I think."

"No, Rose, you stay here."

He said it in such a determined and final manner that Rose frowned impulsively. "But it might be important! They said they knew where something was, and asked me if I knew about it."

The Doctor stepped closer to her, so close she could feel his breath on her face.

"Whatever it is, they know how to find it, and they will still know how to find it later. They can show you tomorrow. These people need our help, and before we go trekking off looking for something that we don't understand, we should probably... like you said, gather and review all the evidence."

Rose pouted a little. "You just don't want me wandering off."

The Doctor looked hurt. "I want you safe," he replied. Those same words she'd said to him so long ago.

Rose swallowed, trying to fathom the emotion behind his eyes. "I would be safe. Like you said, it's only a forest."

The Doctor sighed, and closed his eyes. "I didn't want to tell you right away, I didn't want to scare you. But Rose, I don't think we," he gestured to the shipwrecked camp, "are the only ones here."

Rose's skin froze all over her body. "What do you mean?"

"Remember the markings in the sand we saw earlier? The map of Florida and the Bermuda Triangle?"

She nodded.

"I asked Professor Harling. He said the whole group was together all day. No one strayed that far from the camp. None of them could have drawn it."

The Doctor and Rose decided to stay for the night at the camp, rather than drag themselves all the way back to the TARDIS in the dark. They ate some fish and some fruit – Rose had to stop the Doctor after his fifth banana. There seemed to be an abundance of food here, and the Doctor wondered how that could possibly be – it was such a small place, and the survivors been here three months, give or take. Surely the whole island should have been picked clean long ago?

The whole group seemed fairly relaxed and chatty around the fire. Except for the two children. They clung to their mother's arms, obviously scared. Their mother tried to calm them, reassure them that there was nothing lurking in the darkness.

The next thirty seconds changed that concept altogether.

Two small figures appeared as if from nowhere, fully clothed and perfectly human except for the bright glow that emitted from every inch of their bodies. Several people screamed; some tried to run. Rose clung to the Doctor, remembering instantly what he had said only hours earlier. _I don't think we are the only ones here._

The Doctor stood up, but made no other movement. The two glowing figures watched the panicking crowd with interest, but made no move to attack them. So the Doctor watched, keeping a tight hold on Rose's hand.

One of the figures raised its hand in front of itself, palm up, and suddenly the whole place grew silent, except for the crackling of firewood. Everyone had stopped stock still, as if frozen in place, their fear etched into their faces. Then began the voices.

Every one of the shipwrecked people began speaking at once, calmly, logically, and consistently. Everyone saying something different at the same time, so it sounded like an incoherent babble. Rose tried to make out what some of them were saying.

"Fish cannot live in the Dead Sea because there is too much salt in it."

"The colour green can be made by mixing the primary colours blue and yellow."

"Earth is the only planet in the solar system not named after a god."

"The fastest surface wind ever recorded was 231 miles per hour in New Hampshire, America on April 12, 1934."

"Twelve times twelve is 144."

"The gestation period for the dormouse is 22 – 24 days."

Rose tried to follow the Doctor, who was now rushing from person to person, trying to make eye contact, trying to wake them from their trance.

"Doctor, why have they turned into Wikipedia?"

The Doctor rushed over to the small glowing figure with the outstretched hand, and very calmly, but with a distinct air of authority, said, "Whatever you are doing, I want you to stop."

The small person looked up at him slowly, then, after a few moments, lowered its hand. The people stopped jabbering, but remained motionless. The figures both stared at the Doctor, and he stared back.

Then suddenly, people started moving again, as if thawed instantaneously from ice or unfrozen from time.

The glowing figures turned to the people, and spoke with voices like nails on a chalkboard.

"Thank you."

Then, as quickly as they had appeared, they vanished once more.


	7. Unforgettable

_A/N:__ Thank you to everyone who has read this story so far, and thank you everyone who has reviewed. Hope you're all feeling confused, hehe. Here's chapter Seven._

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter Seven: Unforgettable

The mass of terrified survivors huddled together for comfort after their ordeal. Some were angry, some were just plain scared. One woman was crying. The Doctor rushed from one group to another, checking that no one was injured. Rose went over to find Florence, who was shaking and staring at the forest. Rose took her hand gently and sat her down, wrapping an arm over her shoulders.

"What were those things?" Florence asked in a wobbly voice.

"I don't know," Rose replied honestly. "But I'm guessing they're to do with why we're stuck here."

"But... they shone like the moon. They weren't human, they couldn't possibly have been. My God, what were they?"

Rose could hear the panic rising in her voice, and tried to calm her. "Hey, it's okay. Look, they had plenty of time to hurt us if they wanted to, but they didn't. They can't be all that bad."

Florence nodded slightly, still shaking. Rose gave her a few moments to calm down, and then tried speaking to her again.

"What was it like, being... frozen still like that? Why were you saying all those things?"

Florence looked at her, and blinked. Rose peered through the murky light provided by the campfire, and saw a sort of peace wash over her.

"Saying what things, dear?"

Rose frowned. "All that stuff you was saying when those creatures were here?"

Florence looked confused for a moment, and then smiled a little. "Oh, I can't remember now. No matter. I wonder where those children got to, it's way past their bedtime."

She stood up and wandered away into the crowd. Rose turned to the rest of the group and saw them all having a similar reaction, as if what had just occurred was of no importance, and they were eager to continue their evening activities. Rose headed over to the Doctor, who was trying to examine Paul the mechanic. Paul shrugged him away with a pat on the back, telling him not to worry so much. The Doctor stood and stared, flabbergasted, as he went off to fill the little tea kettle.

"They're not bothered at all," Rose said quietly, watching people settle down again for the evening.

"Yeah," said the Doctor.

"That's not good, is it?" Rose asked.

"Is any of this good?"

The Doctor quickly darted over to the campfire, and addressed the group.

"Hello, everybody. Um... can you tell me what's going on?"

A burly man in the small crowd frowned at him. "What do you mean?"

The Doctor stared at him in disbelief. "Two extraterrestrial glowing things just took over your minds? Comments? Questions? Concerns?"

A woman chuckled. "Oh, I wouldn't worry yourself so much about it. We're all fine."

Rose joined the Doctor again, and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"Extraterrestrial?"

"Irrefutably. Definitely not of this earth. Not sure of anything else right now, though."

"Doctor, why can't they remember?"

The Doctor was quiet for a moment. "Oh I think they can remember. But they just don't seem to... care. And I'll tell you something else..." he pulled her aside from the group so they had no chance of overhearing. "I don't think this was the first time it has happened."

Rose felt chills run down her spine. "What makes you think that?"

The Doctor was frowning to himself, obviously hypothesising. "What we saw was basically a complete take-over of the brain: control of motor functions and what seemed like unlimited access to memories, specifically, the repertoire of knowledge. That sort of thing wouldn't have been that easy if it were the first time – that sort of control takes several attempts. And they didn't try to control _us_, which must mean they either didn't think we would be useful, or they weren't expecting us. Not to sound pig-headed, but if it's knowledge they're after, I'd be their best bet." He tapped the side of his head. "So I'm guessing they weren't expecting us."

"Which means they've done it before, and they knew the group."

The Doctor nodded. He looked around the camp briefly.

"Are the children safe?"

Rose nodded. "Um, yeah, Florence went off to put them to bed." Thinking of the children reminded her of the conversation she had had with them earlier. "Doctor, what's a Zenith?"

He stared at her, puzzled. "It means the highest point of something," he replied. "Why?"

"Earlier the children asked me if we were here about the Zenith. They said they could take me there. What do you think they meant?"

The Doctor shook his head slightly. "Don't know. Maybe the highest point on the island; I have no idea. We should ask them."

He looked out at the blackness of the forest. "We'll ask them in the morning."

Needless to say, Rose didn't get much sleep that night. Her mind was full of the images of the hauntingly luminous little people she had seen that evening. After jumping out of her skin for the seventh time at the sound of a particularly ferocious wave, she decided to give up trying, and headed out of the little makeshift tent and went to sit near the dwindling campfire. The Doctor was sat there, his arms folded over the top of his knees, his chin resting on his arms. He was deep in thought.

She looked at him for several moments, but he didn't acknowledge her. She sighed.

"Look, don't worry, you'll figure it out in the end, you always do. We'll be able to leave, and we can go and zoom around again. We can even visit my mum," she tried to joke, the smile failing her.

"I wasn't thinking about that," he murmured.

Rose knew better than to ask. She just waited.

Eventually he turned to look at her. "I promised to keep you safe. How is _this_ safe? How was Krop Tor safe? Daleks, werewolves, gas masked zombie-kids, I just..." he sighed, and ran his hands over his face. He was obviously tired. "I keep running into trouble headfirst as if it doesn't matter, but when I think about all the times I've come so close to losing you..." he trailed off again. "I was determined to keep you safe this time. Earth, 21st Century, the Caribbean! How could it be safer without physically wrapping you in bubblewrap? And yet here we are, once again with the peril. I should take you home."

Rose took a deep breath so as not to lose her temper. "Don't be ridiculous. You don't go out _looking_ for trouble. Well, usually..." she faltered. "And yeah, it's dangerous, but you told me that when I signed up, right?" She grinned, and nudged him with her shoulder. "Honestly, Doctor, I wouldn't change it for the world. You're not getting rid of me."

The Doctor failed to see the humour in what she was saying. "Honestly, Rose, sometimes it feels like the Universe is trying its damnedest to make that happen."

It took Rose a moment to respond, and when she did, there was a huge lump in her throat. "What do you mean?"

The Doctor saw the worry in her eyes, and tried to smile. "Nothing. I don't mean anything. Go try and get some sleep."

The next morning Rose and the Doctor searched through the mass of people for the youngest survivors, Rebeccah and Joseph. Rose was still amazed by how everyone was just getting on with their lives, not concerned about the invasion of their camp at all.

They eventually found them, hiding in the tree line of the forest. The Doctor approached them, and they both turned as still as statues.

"Good morning," he said brightly. "My friend Rose here tells me that you've got a secret."

"If it's a secret, then why did she tell you?" Joseph asked in a grumpy voice.

The Doctor was a little taken aback. "You've got a point there, I suppose."

Rose ignored him, and stepped over to Rebeccah. "Look, this Zenith you told me about yesterday. You said you could take me there. Will you take us?"

Rebeccah eyed the Doctor curiously. "He's too old to keep up."

"Oi!" the Doctor retorted. Rose burst into giggles.

"You're definitely right, but can he tag along anyway?" Rose asked when she could speak. The Doctor glared at her.

Rebeccah nodded, and, pulling at Joseph's sleeve, they lead the way into the forest.

They walked for nearly an hour, which seemed impossible, the Doctor calculated, as it had taken them less than twenty minutes the other day to walk round the whole island.

"This place is a bit weird, isn't it?" he asked conversationally, shoving his hands in his pockets as they made their way through a huge patch of nettles.

"Yes, it's a lot weird," Joseph replied. The Doctor grinned.

"It was definitely a lot weird what happened last night, eh?" he asked carefully.

"We're here," Rebeccah replied, avoiding the question entirely. Sure enough, as they turned past a large boulder, they finally found out what the Zenith was.

A huge metal egg, dull silver, about the size of a caravan, was embedded in the soil at a strange angle. Big blue letters on the side read 'ZENITH capsule.'

"We found it a long time ago," Joseph explained. "But it said something else. Then we came back yesterday, and it said that instead. Rebeccah read if for me; she said it was a Zenith."

"The TARDIS translator kicked in when we landed," he answered quietly, more to himself than to the child. "At least that's one thing that's still working."

"Doctor, what is it?" Rose asked in amazement. "I'm guessing it's a ship."

The Doctor walked around the edge of the Zenith, three times in a circle, before answering. "It's an escape pod," he explained. "See, it's crashed here." He pointed to the disturbed mud and an uprooted tree.

"Do you recognise it?"

He shook his head vigorously. "There are thousands and thousands of different makes of these things, being used by thousands of species. It's just a generic escape pod. Zenith doesn't mean anything, it's just the name given to it. Oh, hello."

His keen eyes had spotted something in the side of the pod, half covered with mud, and he bent down to examine it. Rose stepped closer for a better look. It was some sort of hatch, full of blinking lights and a mass of wires.

"A maintenance hatch," the Doctor figured out. "Someone's been trying to do a little DIY."

"They want to leave, just like us?" Rose asked, obviously excited.  
"Possibly."

"Then maybe you can help them!"

"We have to find them again first."

"Oh, they come every night," said Rebeccah.

Rose and the Doctor turned and stared at the children, who until now had watched the exchange silently.

"Who come every night?" the Doctor asked carefully.

"Those glowy things," Joseph replied. "They're scary."

Rose stepped over to them. "Do you know why the grown ups aren't scared?"

Rebeccah glanced at Joseph, then answered. "They start to forget, and by night time they can't remember. Then it happens again."

Rose and the Doctor exchanged a determined expression.

"So they'll be there tonight." Rose reaffirmed.

"And we'll be waiting," was the Doctor's response.

_A/N:__ I hope everyone's following it up to now. I've tried to explain what's going on as much as I can, but if there's anything I've written that you don't get, let me know how I can improve it. Obviously, though, some things will be explained in the forthcoming chapters._

_Thank you for reading._


	8. Unravelled

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter Eight: Unravelled

"No."

"Please."

"No."

"Rose, I'm serious."

"No!" Rose crossed her arms and glared at the Doctor. "I'm not staying in the TARDIS."

"I'm trying to keep you safe," the Doctor begged. "I told you last night, I'm just trying to keep you safe."

"And I'm trying to keep _you_ safe," Rose responded adamantly.

They stood staring at each other across the darkened TARDIS console room, their eyes blazing with determination. Then the Doctor sighed, and nodded. "Okay," he agreed, defeated. He bent down to the metal grating of the floor and pulled up one of the panels. He slid down into the under-floor compartment and hauled out a huge leather suitcase. He flung it open and began searching through the random trinkets and mismatched technology contained within. Rose grinned at his serious face as he pulled out what looked to her like a sieve with an electric handle, a purple Venus fly trap plushie, and a keyboard with chess pieces attached to the keys . A rather annoyed looking seven headed bat flew from within the case, squeaking in annoyance and heading up into the heights of the console.

The Doctor finally beamed in triumph and produced a very odd looking contraption that seemed to be made of tin foil, lollypop sticks and LEDs. Rose stifled a laugh as he proceeded to put it on his head, squashing his hair down flat.

"Um... what's that for?" Rose questioned, trying to keep a straight face.

The Time Lord stared at his human companion as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"It's an Anti Detection Device." He patted it proudly. "This lovely thing will make my brain un-take-over-able!"

"Un-take-over-able?"

"Yes!"

"Okay..." Rose peered into the suitcase briefly. "Don't I get one?"

The Doctor shook his head, making the tin foil hat rattle ridiculously. "Wouldn't work for you anyway. Time Lord exclusive! Come on!"

They left the TARDIS and made their way across the beach towards the camp. The day had drawn to an end very quickly, and the moon was making its slow ascension to the highest point of the sky. The zenith. Rose's thoughts were drawn back to the two alien children, and the scene of terror in the camp the previous night.

"Do you think it hurts? I mean, when they... take over their minds?"  
The Doctor shook his head again. "The brain is completely taken over, meaning that the brain wouldn't be able to send pain signals to the body."

Rose's mind was working furiously. "But then, why did they stay upright? If all the brain's signals had been cut off, shouldn't they have sort of... slumped to the ground?"

The Doctor nodded slowly. "Good point."

He was quiet for a few moments, pondering on what she had said.

"I mean, we could be over-complicating it," Rose continued. "Those kids had manners; they stopped to say 'thank you' before they went off. Maybe they were just being polite, keeping everyone in a dignified position."

The Doctor stopped in his tracks, and turned to stare at her. "What did you say?"

Rose fumbled a bit under his sudden scrutinising gaze. "I-I said they were polite-"

"-No, no, no, you said... you said 'kids'."

Rose started to doubt herself. "Yeah, well I just assumed. They were small like children, just... I don't know. They _seemed_ like children. Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree."

"No, no, I think you're barking up exactly the right tree and exactly the right cat."

Rose frowned at him, confused.

"Never mind." He headed down the beach again at breakneck speed, leaving a rather bewildered Rose Tyler rushing to catch up.

Rebeccah and Joseph were the first to see the two strange visitors heading towards their camp. Joseph burst out laughing at the sight of the Doctor's unorthodox headgear.

"Thanks," the Doctor said, his ego slightly bruised. "You just wait, five hundred years time this'll be standard kit for any high-school kid."

Rebeccah gave the Doctor a look to suggest she was questioning his sanity. Fortunately the Doctor had received so many of these looks in his lifetime that he didn't even notice them now. He headed for the centre of the camp, scanning the tree-line of the forest for any sign of movement. A few of the shipwrecked people tried not to stare at him. Rose went to stand next to him, preparing for the arrival of the glowing aliens.

"Are you ready?" she asked him.

The Doctor tapped his tin foil hat. "Un-take-over-able."

Soon, the two figures appeared through the murky blackness of the trees. As soon as they arrived, the camp exploded into chaos as people screamed and scrambled away. But the two aliens only had eyes for the Doctor.

They appeared to be processing something, quietly contemplating. Then one of them opened its mouth. Rose prepared herself for the voice she remembered, like nails on a chalkboard, but was surprised to hear the Doctor's voice from the previous night being replayed to them.

"Whatever you are doing, I want you to stop."

"Why?" asked the other, in the screeching voice.

The Doctor stared at them. "Excuse me?"

The alien replayed the Doctor's voice again, then asked the same question. "Why?"

The Doctor thought carefully for a moment before speaking very simply. "Because controlling other people like that is wrong."

The aliens contemplated again. "Some species contain within them an inbuilt moral code, holding the independence and free will of the individual as the foremost and highest right."

"Conclusion: controlling individuals without their consent is morally wrong," stated its counterpart.

"Exactly!" the Doctor beamed. "So, no more mind-control?"

The first alien, seemingly the spokesman, addressed the Doctor directly once again. "This individual contains vast amounts of knowledge we are unable to access."

The Doctor nodded, his face rather stern once again. "Yes, but that doesn't mean I won't help you. I saw your pod; you've crashed here. Let me help you leave here, help you get home."

Once again, the aliens processed this. "Home: Place of origin."

"Yes," Rose confirmed. "Where's your place of origin?"

"Designation unknown to us."

The Doctor watched them curiously. "Do you know where you are now?"

"Current location: unknown. Distance to 'Home': unknown. Means of returning 'Home': The Zenith."

The two screeching aliens turned to one another, and before the Doctor could reply, they turned and vanished back into the trees.

The Doctor took after them, with Rose several paces behind him. But he stopped as soon as he's started, trying to catch his breath in the darkness of the forest.

Rose caught up a moment later. "Where've they gone?" she asked breathlessly.

The Doctor stared ahead into the blackness. "I know what they are," he said in a faintly sing-song voice.

Back in the TARDIS, the Doctor was rummaging through another leather suitcase. He had abandoned his tin foil hat on the console, and was looking for another device. Rose stood watching him, feeling particularly useless.

"So are you gonna tell me who they are, or am I supposed to guess? 'Cos they're too small to be Slitheen," she tried to joke.

The Doctor looked up at her, and ran a hand over his tired face. "Suppose you were in the TARDIS alone, and it was just like this – nothing working."

Rose looked at the console, and flicked a switch without result. "Yeah, okay?"

"How would you fix it?"

Rose stared at him, bewildered. "I have no idea."

"No, just, think it through. What would you do?"

Rose pondered over the puzzle for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders. "I'd try to find someone who knew all about timey-wimey stuff."

The Doctor nodded encouragingly. "And failing that?"

"It's too dangerous to try trial and error. So I suppose... I'd... go to the library, look through all the books and try to come up with something."

"Bingo!" the Time Lord enthused. "So, I put to you another question. Think of everything that has gone wrong or malfunctioned while we've been here, and what do they provide?"

Rose thought fast. "Energy? The TARDIS energy, the Sonic Screwdriver, the fire in the campsite that first night. All different types of energy?"

The Doctor smiled at her. "Good thinking! But think a little more four-dimensionally. The stories and legends of ships and planes lost to the Bermuda Triangle. Like you said, the TARDIS, and the fire. Time is all messed up here. Space is warped. The mind-control, spouting facts and figures. All these things, in their most basic form provide... information."

Rose's eyes widened in sudden realisation. "They're building a library! They're collecting information!"

The Doctor grinned in proud satisfaction. "You're brilliant, you are! When you referred to them as kids on the beach, that's when it all started falling into place. They are children. Vatarian children."

He beamed at her, as though the rest of the explanation should fall into place. Then he realised she had no idea what he was talking about.

"The Vatarians are magnificent. Such an intelligent race. But they're genetically incapable of imagination, of stringing two ideas together and coming up with something original. It's kind of sad, really: no art, no design or invention. No originality whatsoever. They have to use other species' ideas and inventions to get anywhere."

Rose frowned. "Surely that wouldn't be enough, you know, to survive in space?"

"True. That's why they are fantastic observers. They watch everything. Take in every experience, process it, assimilate the data, and combine it with their knowledge to guide them. Vatarian parents expose their children to thousands of different species and tens of thousands of experiences every year, just to make them capable of fending for themselves."

Rose nodded. "So these... Vatarian kids are absorbing everything that ends up in the Bermuda Triangle, and building on their knowledge."

"I think it's more than that," the Doctor expanded. "I think they must have been here a long time. I think they've _made_ the Triangle to attract everything in the vicinity, absorbing even space and time, in order to find the information they need: how to get home. Of course no one on Earth knows anything particularly helpful about deep space travel in this time."

Rose grinned. "No one except you."

"No one except me! And I have just the thing to fix their pod and get them on their way."

He pulled an old wooden screwdriver from the case and brandished it in the air.

Rose was appalled. "Great big genius Time Lord, saviour of the Human race is going to fix the mysterious space ship with a... screwdriver?"

The Doctor beamed again, and jumped up. He was out of the door and heading towards the trees before Rose had time to laugh at him. She hurried after him, wondering why they always had to run.

The Doctor rushed through the trees in the pitch blackness, having a vague idea of where he was headed. He eventually found the clearing again, with the pod sat pathetically in the mud. Rose arrived just in time to see him lean down to the control panel on the side of the pod.

"Just a twitch here and a tinker there and they'll be flying in no time!"

A circuit blew, and a shrill alarm aired.

The Doctor squirmed. "Oh dear."

The two shiny Vatarian children appeared from the trees, wielding some serious looking weaponry.

The Doctor's hands flew up into the air, and Rose copied, silently questioning why these children had guns.

"I'm trying to help; I can get the Zenith flying again!" the Doctor explained.

"Attempted Sabotage," reasoned one of the children. "Course of action: Destroy the saboteurs."

"Oh dear," the Doctor repeated, lowering his hands and reaching for Rose's.

"Is that all you've got?" Rose hissed.

"Well, under the circumstances, I would suggest... RUN!"


	9. Undo

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter Nine: Undo

The Time Lord and the human girl ran through the trees as breakneck speed, followed by the armed Vatarian children. On and on they ran, circling across the island, passing the confused crowd on the beach several times in a matter of minutes due to how time had warped. Eventually the Doctor stopped, suddenly and abruptly, and Rose cannoned into his back. He hurriedly passed her the screwdriver.

"Go back to the Zenith, to the control panel. There'll be a hatch that can be unscrewed. Inside you'll see some crystals; rearrange them from left to right, blue-green-gold-yellow-red. If nothing happens try blue-yellow-gold-red-green. Then get out of there, get back to the TARDIS."

They could hear the Vatarians gaining on them. They didn't have long.

"Blue-green... uh... right. What'll that do?" Rose asked, clutching the not-so-sonic-screwdriver for dear life.

"It'll reboot the Zenith's engines and they can go on their merry way. Go quickly!"

"What about all the people on the beach?"

"Everything should reset back to how it was before they arrived; everyone should go back to their journeys with no memory of this place. One big 'undo'. Now HURRY UP!"

The Vatarians appeared through the foliage, their weapons raised. The Doctor pushed Rose off into the trees and began waving his arms above his head.

"Oi, kiddies, this way, look, I'm the clever one, I'm the saboteur, follow me!"

He dashed off in the opposite direction to Rose, luring the Vatarians away from the Zenith. Rose felt the need to argue the Doctor's statement that he was 'the clever one', but he'd already vanished. She hurriedly headed for the Zenith, trying to remember the order she was supposed to put the crystals in.

"Blue-green-red-yellow-gold? Red-blue-green-yellow... oh I have no idea!" she muttered to herself.

She found the Zenith quickly, and saw the panel that the Doctor had left open. She stooped down and peered inside, and sure enough, there was the hatch she was supposed to remove. She set to work removing the unusual screws, every now and then hearing the Doctor somewhere in the forest screaming insults at the Vatarians at the top of his voice.

Here they were. The crystals. Red-blue-yellow-green-gold? Blue-green-red-yellow-gold? Green-red-yellow-gold-blue?

Oh dear.

The Doctor had to stop for breath, he couldn't run anymore. The two Vatarian children appeared in front of him with their weapons ready, and the Doctor tried to put his hands in the air, but wincing he had to rest his hands on his knees.

"Ow ow ow! Stitch!" he complained. He looked up at the two confused children. "Don't you ever need to rest?"

"Our bodies do not need these gasses to survive," one of them said blandly.

The Doctor nodded, still panting. "No, I forgot, you don't breathe... You're really missing out."

One of the children stepped forward, brandishing its weapon. "Required: Explanation. Reason for sabotage."

"I wasn't sabotaging anything, I was fixing your pod for you!"

The children ignored him. "You will provide your knowledge so we can fix our pod."

"I just told you, I was doing it for you!" the Doctor yelled. "Some thanks this is!"

The children seemed to hesitate. "It's broken. You cannot fix it. We want to fix it."

The Time Lord was struck by just how childlike they sounded. He was about to offer them his services again, when an almighty clunk resounded through the trees, followed by the whirring of non-terrestrial energy. The Vatarians turned to look through the trees to where the Zenith was; they couldn't see it, but it was clearly working again.

_That's my girl_, the Doctor thought fondly.

"The Zenith is working. We can leave," the Vatarians screeched inexpressively. They turned tail and headed back through the forest.

Suddenly the ground began to shake, and a roaring like a thousand angry Judoon encompassed the island. Through the din, the Doctor heard the TARDIS's cloister bell chime mournfully, as if calling out to him. He charged through the forest with renewed vitality towards his beloved time machine, the soil and bracken underfoot changing to soft pillowing sand as he reached the beach. He saw the fearful looks on the faces of the people at the camp, of Rebeccah and Joseph, as the reality around them began to unravel, and things began disappearing – books, tents, people. _Going back to their own times, back to their journeys_, the Doctor thought as he dashed inside the police box.

The TARDIS had rebooted herself, and now that the Vatarians weren't taking the time energy, she worked just fine. The Doctor beamed at the console, joyfully flicking switches and pulling levers until he was certain that everything was stable enough for them to leave.

Rose.

Rose wasn't back yet. He had specifically told her to get back to the TARDIS as soon as she'd finished. Panic rising in his hearts, he rushed towards the door, but was beaten back by a swirling vortex of entropy, sand, trees, ocean and debris, all rising and colliding and vanishing as, far off in the distance, the dark outline of the Zenith could be seen making its way skyward.

"Rose!" he screamed, trying once again to get out of the doorway. He couldn't get out. He couldn't get to her.

Rose.

He rushed back to the console. He tried to extend the shielding further so he could stand outside safely, but as he left the doorway the door slammed shut. He pulled at the door. It was stuck. He couldn't get to her.

Rose.

An almighty crash told him what he already knew – the Bermuda Triangle had disappeared.

He stopped. There was nothing he could do. It didn't exist anymore. It likely never existed now. He couldn't get her back.

He fell to his knees, a blank heartbreak set on his features. She'd saved them all. All the people trapped there. She'd freed the Vatarian children. Because he told her to.

He'd told her to go and fix the Zenith. He'd tried to keep her away from the guns, to keep her safe. Safer. It hadn't worked. She'd listened to him. She always listened to him.

He ran a hand over his face, and stood, going to the console to confirm what he knew. Sure enough, the Bermuda Triangle was no more. No strange readings, no warped time or space. Just ocean.

How had this happened? One little trip, an innocent visit to the Caribbean, that's what he'd thought. Of course it hadn't worked. Of course it had gone wrong. It always did. Why did he think he could keep her safe?

All those people from the beach would go back to their lives unaware of what had happened to them, oblivious to the fact that they'd been saved by a girl from London. He tried to take a deep, steadying breath, but it didn't work.

They'd all gone back to their lives.

They'd all gone back.

A thought, a tiny sparkle of a thought wormed its way to the forefront of the Doctor's mind.

Maybe.

They'd all gone back. Had they _all_ gone back?

He turned on his heels, and sped deeper into the TARDIS, rushing through corridors, trying to find the familiar green door. He couldn't see it, and he cursed the TARDIS for playing games with him – although he knew the poor old girl was probably just trying to recalibrate and realign her systems.

If everything had been reset, if everyone had been sent back, did that mean...?

He found the door he was looking for, and burst into the room. The kitchen.

Rose Tyler turned and frowned at the Doctor's manic entry, a mug of tea at her lips. "What's up with you?" she asked.

The Doctor's hearts were pounding in his ears. She was back. He rushed over to her and wrapped her in a furious hug, making her drop her tea.

"You're back," he murmured into her hair. "You're back, you're back, you're back..."

Rose hugged him back, completely confused. "What's going on? I haven't been anywhere."

She had been sent back, just like the others. Sent back to go on with her journey as normal. The Doctor silently thanked anyone who would listen for making everything work out, just this once.

He pulled back, and tried to grin convincingly at her. "Nothing's wrong. Everything's fine. Brilliant. Just brilliant."

Rose didn't look convinced, but she smiled at him anyway and bent down to pick up the remains of her shattered mug. "That was my favourite mug, you owe me."

The Doctor nodded enthusiastically. "Yes I do, I do, I owe you big time, enormous time," he rambled. "Anything you want, anything at all!"

Rose grinned at him. "Okay, can we get some sun? I've always wanted to go to the Caribbean."

A/N: Thank you so much for reading.

The 'swirling vortex of entropy' quote isn't mine, and if you know where it's from then I love you.


End file.
